OneShot Collection
by iSnowX3
Summary: A whole lot of one shots . Written when I have no ideas for my other stories . Mostly or all Amuto . Ratings K-T . Read &Review please !
1. Tokyo City

**Eh , my brain's been a bit dead lately , so I decided to spill out all those loose ideas in a oneshot ^^ Since according to my parents , I'm officially good for nothing .**

**OH YEAH . For those of you who dropped Puchi ! Puchi ! (like I did ._.) WATCH EP 10 !! But skip to the middle of the actual episode , because IKUTO SAYS **_**BONJOUR**_** !!!! LOL , I was like totally screaming about it . Then my bf got 'mad' at me because I was "cheating on him with my best female friend AND a cartoon guy" ._. I'm so mean .**

**But you gotta admit , that blue shirt he's wearing looks sexy on him :D Nice change from all the black he normally wears .**

**Based off of the music video for my new favorite song ; **_**Seoul Song**_** ; by SNSD &Super Junior :D I would totally write a songfic on it , except that the actual song covers so many other things other than photography . Bikes , running , drawing , modeling, balloons , etc . So I just wrote a one shot .

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Hinamori Amu stepped into the small building on the corner of one of Tokyo's busiest streets. A building that she had come to know, over the years, as work.

Although, she was rarely even _in_ the office. Amu was one of the best photographers for _Tokyo Magazine, _one of the most famous magazines in all of a Japan. Most of her time was spent roaming around the city, searching for the necessary pictures to be included in their magazine.

She kept up her confident stride until she reached the large room in the back of the building: the boss's office. Amu took a deep breath, using one hand to hurriedly fix her pink hair as she used her other hand to fish a large folder out of her bag. After doing a quick check to see if the contents of the folder were in absolute perfect condition. Only then did she turn the handle to open the large doors.

Inside the office, Amu's boss, was already busy with some other papers. She didn't even notice the pink haired woman standing there nervously.

Amu cleared her throat.

"Um…" She called out, her voice slightly hoarse. "Ma'am …?"

The woman snapped her head up, surprised. Her face relaxed and split into a smile, however, when she saw that it was Amu standing there.

"Ah," She exclaimed. "Ms. Hinamori! So do you have all those pictures we need?"

Amu nodded eagerly, handing the folder to her boss. She stared anxiously as the older woman slowly flipped through the folder of pictures, her expression never changing as she nodded occasionally. When her boss looked back up, she looked quite pleased.

"These are great!" She said happily. "I think that our writers will have no problem including these in our newest articles. So, are you ready for your new assignment?"

Amu nodded once more. She really loved this job; it took her to the most exciting places from the city, the enjoyment was never ending.

Her boss grinned.

"I want you to go," She directed. "Look all over Tokyo, like you normally do. But this time, only take pictures of the _beautiful_ things."

A look of confusion flashed across Amu's face.

" Beautiful…?" Her voice trailed off. Her boss nodded.

"Yes," The woman said. "Beautiful things. We are going to write a whole article on the _beautiful_ things of Tokyo, since we have a travel magazine that is willing to feature our article on that in _their_ magazine if they think it's good enough!"

Amu was excited for this. Though she had no idea on what would be 'beautiful', since everyone's opinion on that one word would vary tremendously, she wanted to do great on this assignment. It would so great, to have their magazine move to the next level.

"Yes!" She said. "I'll get started right away!"

She turned around and practically ran out of the building. Outside, the streets of Tokyo City were already busy with people headed to their jobs, children hurrying to school, and so many others. Her enthusiastic smile faded. She knew that she only had a limited number of photos she could submit for each article.

_But … what if … I don't know what is 'beautiful'. What if … to me, just the entire city is beautiful!?_

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

"From what I heard," Tsukioymi Ikuto's boss was saying. "That _Tokyo Magazine_ is doing an article on what makes Tokyo City a beautiful place, and that article might be featured in a worldwide travel magazine!"

Ikuto nodded boredly. He hated his job, a magazine photographer. But, since he had decided to take a course on photography just so he could stare at Amu for a whole period each day, he was stuck with it.

Maybe it wouldn't have been such a bad job, if his boss wasn't so obsessed with their rival in the magazine world, _Tokyo Magazine_. Honestly, did that man really think that Ikuto cared at all about every little thing they were writing about.

"So," The older man continued. "I want _you_, to go out there, and find pictures of a beautiful Tokyo. Pictures that are even _more_ beautiful than theirs!"

Ikuto raised an eyebrow.

_Competitive much?_

But he nodded.

"Yes, sir," He mumbled almost incoherently before walking out of the building.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

The kindergarten kids slowly got into their very crooked line as the teacher led them down the sidewalk. It was a normal day for them.

All of a sudden, a bright flash of light when off.

Extremely surprised, half of the group of students turned to look in the direction that the flash came from. Standing there, with a wide grin on her face, was Hinamori Amu. She waved at them before turning and disappearing around the corner.

The children stared at her in utter confusion, but Amu didn't necessarily care. She had gotten a picture she needed.

_Little kids. They're Tokyo's future, aren't they? And they're pretty cute too, so they count… I guess_.

Sighing with content, she walked over to a nearby bench, sitting down on it and going through her other pictures. The little children, a dancer she saw, a busy road, a cute looking couple sharing a meal.

Amu sighed one more, but this time it was more out of disappointment. None of the pictures really depicted any 'beauty'; instead, they were just random things that she had just happened to pass by.

She set her camera down on the bench beside her in defeat. She was totally going to fail at this, and she was probably going to get fired, or something awful like that.

Amu didn't even want to imagine. She lifted her head and looked around slowly, hoping to find some last-minute inspiration from her surroundings. Nothing special. Just some more people, some food stores, and the Tokyo City Hall.

And then it hit her.

City Hall.

It was an amazing building, really. Towers, each taller than Amu would've ever thought. Artfully designed, blending in perfectly with it's surroundings, yet still having it's own bold statement.

It was… almost beautiful.

Amu snatched her camera, wildly running around trying to find the _perfect_ angle to snap that photo from.

She took a couple steps back; the lighting and everything would be just right if she went a little farther back. She continued walking, not really paying attention to who was behind her.

Until she actually ran into someone.

Amu whipped around, intending to apologize to whoever it was she had bumped. But then, she recognized it. The midnight blue hair, the violet eyes, the perfect face.

Tsukiyomi Ikuto.

Amu's jaw dropped. It had been a long time since she had seen that man. The last time would probably be when he hid out in her room a few years back so that he could hide from … who knew what. It wasn't important to her then, it's still not important to her now.

"I-Ikuto?" She stammered. Ikuto smirked.

"Oh, no," He said sarcastically. "I'm Tadase. So what are you doing, walking backwards on a busy road?"

Amu blushed lightly. Was that really what she had been doing?

_I probably really looked stupid…_

Ikuto's smirk widened.

"Don't worry," He said. "If it was anyone else that ran into me, I might not have been so forgiving."

Amu's light blush darkened slightly.

"And what's that s-supposed to mean …?" She mumbled. Ikuto shrugged, not answering. Would there really be any point? Last time he tried telling her how he felt, he was blown off as a 'liar' for the remainder of the night.

That was something he didn't really want to repeat. Both the being rejected part and the "Oh! I think you're a _liar_!" parts.

"Because," He lied, the smirk on his face not wavering once. "You always look so cute when you trip and fall onto stuff."

Amu glared at him.

"If you'll excuse me," She snapped. "I'm kind of busy right now."

She turned, intending to storm off angrily, but Ikuto stopped her. In one graceful motion, he had snatched the camera out of the petite girl's hands, casually browsing through all the pictures Amu had taken that day.

The pink-haire girl stared at his bored actions in horror.

"So," Ikuto said without looking up once. "You work for _Tokyo Magazine_?"

Amu's jaw dropped. How'd he figure that out in a matter of seconds?

"W-What's it to you?" She stammered stubbornly. Ikuto finally looked up, chuckling softly.

"We have billions of copies of all of those all over where I work," He said. "My boss likes to use them as a source of competition."

Amu's eyes widened.

"You mean, you mean," She started. Ikuto nodded.

"Yeah," He answered. "I work _there_. You know, I think my boss really hates yours."

Amu nodded.

"I think he does too," She murmured. Ikuto just shrugged and continued looking through the pictures.

"So if I'm correct…" He said. "You're doing something about 'what makes Tokyo beautiful'…?"

Amu nodded.

"So I guess you're doing the same thing," She commented dryly. Ikuto shrugged once more.

"Wrong," He said. "I'm _supposed_ to be doing the same thing; I'll just 'forget' that I needed to again."

Without waiting for a reply, he lifted up Amu's camera, aiming the lens right into the pinkette's face.

"Say cheese," He said in a mock-cheerful tone, snapping a picture. Grinning afterwards, he looked at the camera screen.

"Not a bad a picture," He commented. "But, your cheeks should be _way_ redder."

Amu reached out and grabbed the camera back. Staring straight at her, was a picture of herself with a surprised expression.

"Ikuto?!" She exclaimed. "Why'd you take a picture of me?"

Ikuto stared at her stupidly.

"You said you need pictures of beautiful things," He said slowly. "So I added a picture of you in there."

Amu's eyes widened.

"T-That doesn't count!" She stammered. Ikuto shrugged.

"Why shouldn't it?"

"Because it just doesn't!"

Ikuto stared at her in defeat. Amu stared back at him, a look of defiance in her eyes.

"I'm going to delete it," She announced, her finger already itching towards the 'erase' button. Ikuto eyed her finger warily.

"No, you're not," He warned, grabbing the camera away from her. Amu took it back, and soon the poor camera was just bouncing in the small space of air between their arms. After flying about for a bit, the device finally landed back in Amu's hands. Grinning triumphantly, she pressed her index finger on the first button it reached.

There was another bright flash.

Ikuto took a surprised step back, his eyes blinking furiously to get rid of the irritating flashing spots in his now blurred vision.

"What was that for?" He demanded, rubbing his eyes. Amu stared at the camera in horror.

A picture of Ikuto was now filling her camera screen.

Once Ikuto regained his vision, he leaned over, grinning when he saw his face on the camera.

"Nice." He said approvingly. "Just goes to show, you think I'm very good looking."

Amu glared at him.

"Yeah yeah whatever," She said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find some more beautiful things in this city… that doesn't include you."

Ikuto pretended to pout.

"Don't be so mean, _Amu_," He said teasingly. "You know it hurts people's feelings."

Amu glared at him.

"Fine," She told him impatiently. "If you think you're any better, then help me find some pictures!"

… _Yeah. I really should get some help. I don't have much time to do this, and I've only got …. four?... pictures. Very sad. The magazine's going to need _a lot _more than that…_

Ikuto smirked.

"So the Strawberry finally admits that she needs help…" He muttered to himself. "But sure."

He grabbed Amu's hand, ignoring her screams of protest, and proceeded to drag her all over Tokyo. He showed her so many places, most of that Amu had already been through that day, but hadn't taken any pictures of.

To be honest, Amu was quite surprised. He had such a way of looking at the world, so that almost _everything_, from the small balloon with a happy face on it, to the old lady sitting on a bench, was beautiful.

And she was thankful for that.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu followed Ikuto up the hill in the park. It had been a long day, and she was tired. But Ikuto said that he had one last picture that she _had_ to have. Which confused her quite a bit, considering she had hundreds of other things that Ikuto had made her take pictures of.

As soon as they were at the top of the hill, Ikuto pointed to something off in the horizon.

"Look at that," He said. "That's beautiful too, isn't it?"

Amu stared in the direction he was pointing, and nodded. It was a perfect view of the sunset. And it certainly was beautiful.

She raised her camera up one last time, intending to snap a photo of the sunset before it got overshadowed by a moonrise, but Ikuto stopped her, placing his hand in front of the lens to cover the view.

"That's not the most beautiful part though," He said quietly, taking the camera out of her hands. Amu stared at him, bewildered.

"But…" She trailed off. "What can make it anymore beautiful…?"

Ikuto took a step closer to her, his arm slyly winding around her waist. Suddenly, he dipped her backwards, gently pressing his mouth on hers.

Amu was extremely surprised. Surprised that Ikuto had surprised her, and… surprised that it felt so _good_. Ikuto smirked against her lips when he felt her relax. Then he raised Amu's camera up with his free hand, snapping the final 'beautiful' picture. He placed the camera back down, smiling and pulling Amu back up. The pink haired girl stared at him in wonder, and then reached for her camera. Just as she was about to look at the picture that she knew Ikuto had taken, the man pushed the camera back down.

"You know why _I_ think that Tokyo's a beautiful city?" He asked her softly. "Because it's the city where I fell in love with you in."

Amu's eyes widened further, if that was even possible anymore.

_He… he wasn't lying. That day he told me, he was telling the truth…_

Ikuto smiled at her. Not a smirk, not a joking or teasing grin, a regular, gentle smile.

"Now," He continued. "How about looking at that picture, eh?"

Amu blinked a few times. She had completely forgotten about the photo and the camera and her entire _job_ in those matter of seconds. Her mind was still wrapped tightly around the fact that Ikuto had kissed her and then said… those words.

"Oh, um…" She stuttered, cheeks flaming. "Yeah…"

She picked up the camera, staring at the picture in utter shock. The picture was… _perfect_. The sun was shining brightly in the background of the red-orange sky behind them. It shined on them so that both Amu and Ikuto's bodies were black shadows against the sun.

It was perfect. Picture perfect.

Not to mention beautiful also.

Amu smiled up at Ikuto, giving him a hug. She was about to thank him until she remembered something.

"But," She said quietly. "Aren't you supposed to find pictures of beautiful things, too?"

Ikuto shrugged uncaringly.

"Yeah," He said. "But, I never really liked that job anyways. Maybe I'll actually get fired this time."

Amu's smile faded.

_But… isn't it my fault if he gets fired or something?_

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu lay, sprawled out on her bed, a stack of printed photos stacked neatly on the desk beside her. She stared straight up at the ceiling, and her eyes were filled with some sort of confusion.

Suddenly, she sat up, grabbing the photo pile. Amu gently fingered the edges of the Polaroids as she thought. It just didn't seem fair to her; Ikuto doing all of this and getting himself in trouble.

And then she realized what she had to do.

Amu suddenly jumped off the bed, crouching by her desk and rummaging through one of the drawers. She pulled out a small cardboard box, and assembled it as the directions printed on one flap said to. Amu then got a rubber band, slid it around her photo stack, and gently placed it into the box. She then closed the box, reaching for a sharpie to write on the top of the box.

She wrote the address for the building of the company that Ikuto worked in. For the return address, she scrawled in, "just from a fan of an employee of yours :D"

It seemed like the right thing to do. Ikuto should get all the credit for this work. He had basically pointed everything and it's beauty out for her, all Amu did was press the little button on the camera.

Amu bolted downstairs, hurried slipping her shoes on with one hand, the other still grasping tightly to the cardboard box. She ran in the dead of night towards the post office; she didn't care that she was still wearing the mini shorts and tank top she normally wore after showers.

Once she reached her destination, she dumped it in one of the mailboxes. Then, sweeping a strand of pink hair behind her ear, she stared at the metal container, a feeling of content filling her.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Hinamori Amu stepped out of the office of _Tokyo Magazine_, a wavering smile on her face. After her manager found out that she had absolutely no pictures to present for the article, she had been fired. Not that Amu wasn't surprised, she had expected that something like this would happen.

She just didn't think about what she could do as her next job.

Taking a deep breath, Amu slowly started down the busy street. There were adults walking to work, some kids rushing to school, some couples going on treasured dates.

_Wow… talk about déjà vu._

As she continued walking, she gradually began to hear a song playing. A violin song.

_That's weird… you normally never hear any music around here._

It wasn't until she ran into someone that she realized that something was wrong. In front of the man as hundreds of other people, all of them crowded around one particular spot.

Curious, Amu pushed her way through. Once she made her way to the front, she gasped.

Ikuto was standing there, playing a violin. At his feet was an open violin case, gradually filling with money thrown in by the spectators.

"I… IKUTO?" Amu exclaimed. Ikuto immediately stopped playing, surprised at who was screaming his name. As soon as he stopped playing, though, the crowd immediately began to thin. Ikuto glanced down at the violin case, shrugging and then snapping it closed.

"So, " He asked, slinging the case over his shoulder. "What are you doing here for?"

Amu stared at him.

"What am _I_ doing here?" She repeated. "What are _you_ doing here?! Don't you work for that magazine?"

Ikuto shook his head.

"Nope," He said. " I quit that place."

Amu felt like a giant weight had fallen over her head.

"W-w-what?!" She screamed. "Why'd you quit?!"

Ikuto shrugged.

"I figured they were going to fire me anyways," He explained. "Since I didn't have any picturesMight as well quit before they could."

Another heavy brick fell on Amu's head.

"B-but," She stammered. "I sent all the pictures I took to _your_ magazine's office so you wouldn't get fired! I got fired!"

Ikuto's eyes widened.

"You… did that?" He asked in wonder. Amu nodded impatiently.

"Yes," She said quickly. "I did. So now what am I going to do."

Ikuto frowned.

_Shit… I got her fired._

He pulled the violin case off of his shoulder.

"Open your hands," He ordered. A flash of confusion crossed Amu's eyes, but she did as she was told. Ikuto opened up the violin case, and grabbed a fistful of the money and placed it into Amu's waiting hands. He continued doing so, until his violin case was clear of every penny. There was now about seventy-five dollar's worth of loose change and various bills in Amu's cupped palms.

"I would give you more," Ikuto said apologetically. "But I don't have any other money on me right now."

Amu shook her head, starting to pour all the money back into his violin case. Ikuto snapped his case shut before a single piece could fall back in.

"You lost your job because of me," He said firmly. "Keep it."

Amu frowned. She couldn't take it from him, as much as she told herself that she needed it.

Ikuto seemed to sense her uneasiness, and smirked.

"How about you repay me with a kiss?" He suggested. A small smile tugged on the corner of Amu's lips.

"It's not going to cover all of this money," She said. "But sure."

She leaned forward until her lips collided with his.

And when she was sure Ikuto was too into the kiss to notice anything, she jammed a rather large chunk of the money into his jacket pocket.

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**Mmmm . Weak ending D: I was rushing . I've got some tests tomorrow and the day after, and I wasted too much time today trying to write this up ._.**

**Not to mention the last part of my piano test is this Saturday , the written part , so I've seriously got to start studying up for that too .**

**Ah well , review please ! :D**

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	2. Cinderella

**Well … hey ! (: Most of you guys probably remember this as my oneshot , **_**Tokyo City**_** , but I decided that I like oneshots , so I just changed it into a whole one-shot collection .**

**I guess you could say that this one is a …. Tadamu . I'm sorry D: But I couldn't think of any other way to do this story D:**

**Miruku-chii : **So there are no problems , no ? (:

**Himeka Tsukiyomi : **Me &my friend were totally fangirling over it in school today instead of doing our lab . We're going to be in trouble when that's due …

**Snowiisan : **Thank you :D

**Smallvillegirl2: **… OHMYGOD . OH . MY . GOD ! IT'S SMALLVILLEGIRL2 ! *fans face* big BIG fan of your "The Secret Life of Amu" series !

**Amutoness : **Aw , thank you ! :D

**Xhappily-randomx : **It's because Amu's cool like that ;D

**Kitty-Neko-Chii : **Thankyouverymuch (:

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**Disclaimers :**

**I don't own Shugo Chara ! , or Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman .**

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Tsukiyomi Ikuto lay, sprawled out on the bed. There was a rather frustrated look to his face; he never really liked thinking this hard. Earlier today, Ikuto had decided to do the unthinkable for him : actually show up at school for once. He had been ditching a lot lately, faking illnesses and family emergencies to get excused.

Normally, he would go and bother Amu, but the little pink-haired girl had just started junior high, making her busy with the new amount of homework to do and tests to study for. Henceforth Ikuto decided to go back to school, purely out of boredom.

But, now that he's finally showed up, he had a lot of make-up work to do. He had gotten most of it done pretty quickly, it was all surprisingly easy for him. All of it except for the language arts homework, that is.

He was supposed to write. Write about one thing that was really important to him, yet he wasn't supposed to really name it at all in the writing piece itself. It was supposed to make people "guess" about what the important thing was. Ikuto's gut instinct was to write about the violin, but he was surprised to find that he couldn't fill up more than a page about that. Definitely not long enough to turn in for someone his age.

All of a sudden, there was a light tapping on his window. Ikuto turned to look out the window, and saw Amu , barely managing to stay on the small window sill.

Half of Ikuto wanted to stand there and laugh at how clumsy she was looking right now. The other half was already running over to make sure she didn't fall before Ikuto could get her into the room.

"Amu?" He asked as he helped her inside. "What are you doing here?"

The whole thing was surprising; since normally _Ikuto_ was the one that went to _Amu's_ bedroom windows. Amu stared up at him, her wide honeycomb eyes meeting his violet-blue ones.

"Ikuto," She said shyly. "Well… Tadase asked me to the dance."

Ikuto raised an eyebrow. So, Amu decided to come over at who knows how late at night, just to tell him that _someone else_ asked Amu to a dance?

"And…" Amu continued, not noticing Ikuto's lack of response. "The problem is, I don't know how to dance. Well I _know_ how to, I'm just not very good at it. And … you've probably danced with tons of girls, so… do you think that … you could help me practice?"

Ikuto hesitated. Of course, he liked helping Amu out whenever he could, especially when she _asked_ for help. But, help her impress someone; someone that Ikuto was already immensely jealous of for succeeding in taking Amu's heart? That was a whole different story.

"Please…?" Amu begged, her eyes widening further with pleading. "I don't know who else to ask… Rima can't dance to save her life, no offense, Nadeshiko and Nagihiko are out in Europe, Kukai would make the whole thing an exercise project, Yaya wouldn't take me seriously, and my parents would just freak out over me going to the dance with a boy at all!"

Ikuto stared at her. How could he refuse such a cute, innocent face like that? He let out a resigned sigh as he shoved his homework aside. "Sure… I guess."

Amu's face lit up instantly.

"Really?" She exclaimed. Ikuto's face relaxed into a small smirk and he nodded.

"Yeah," He said. "Just keep quiet. I don't want Utau running in here, because then I'd explain why I was up late at night dancing with a little kid."

"I'm not a little kid," Amu pouted lightly. "Now just help me."

Ikuto chuckled softly, pulling Amu off of the bed, and taking her hands in his.

"Okay," He began. "You start off by standing like this…"

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

"So do you get it now?" Ikuto asked. Amu nodded slightly, still slowly swaying along to some imaginary music. She looked so adorable, Ikuto couldn't stop smiling as he watched her twirl around. When she finally stopped, she turned to look at Ikuto and nodded.

"Uh huh!" She answered quite cheerfully, flashing him a smile. Ikuto felt himself smirking at her.

"Well," He told her. "Just come back if you need anything else."

"Sure!" Amu replied, heading towards his bedroom door. "And you don't mind if I just leave through the front door, right? Coming in through the window was kind of... difficult."

Ikuto chuckled. "Go ahead."

As soon as Amu was gone, he turned back to the homework he had to do.

_Something ... special ... to me. Something that I can say enough about to fill up more than a page or two._

His mind drifted back to only moments ago, when Amu was giggling as she kept tripping during the dance. Just the memory brought another subtle smile to his face.

The page was filled up within minutes. Filled with somewhat coherent thoughts about the one girl with the pink hair and the golden eyes and could make him smile just by staring at him.

**.: some big number of years later (both Amu &Ikuto are adults now) :.**

Ikuto stuck the newly made key into the lock, turning it and opening the door with a 'click'. He had just gotten a new apartment, complete with buying new furniture and everything.

He turned behind him, sighing at the boxes. Lots of unpacking to do. Well, he had to start somewhere. Taking a deep breath, Ikuto bent down, picking up the box sitting closest next to him and hauled it inside. As soon as he was done throwing it somewhere in one of the bigger rooms, he walked out to get the next box.

But, instead of the box being on the ground, it was in someone else's arms. Ikuto looked up and saw that they were … Amu's arms.

"Amu?" He asked in surprise. Amu nodded slowly.

"Um…" She said awkwardly. "Hi…?"

Ikuto blinked disbelievingly. Why would Amu, of all people, be here … helping him? It wasn't that he didn't _want_ Amu here or anything, it just seemed like something that was very unlikely. Especially since Tadase and Amu had really hit it off at that dance all those years ago.

Amu smiled at him.

"Well…I live over _there_…" She explained, pointing at the apartment room across the hall from his. "And I saw you here… so I thought that… I'd… help you …?"

Her voice squeaked slightly towards the end, but Ikuto didn't mind. Amu was standing here, in front of him, volunteering to help with something. Ikuto wasn't ready to complain just yet. He smirked.

"Then bring that box into here," He directed, picking up another box and following her in.

After a few hours, they had all of the boxes inside the apartment, unpacked and emptied. The two of them stood back, admiring their work.

"It doesn't look half bad…" Amu murmured to herself. Ikuto grinned, silently agreeing with her.

"So now that we're done," He said. "Do you want to go … do something together?"

Amu shook her head.

"Sorry," She said, smiling apologetically. "But Tadase already asked me to do something with him… and I told him I would… so…"

Ikuto didn't want to hear the ending to that sentence.

"I get it," He said, trying his best to not sound as unhappy as he felt. "Well, have fun with that then."

Amu smiled at him one more time.

"Thanks!" She exclaimed, already running out of the apartment. "And I will!"

Ikuto sighed as soon as he heard the door slam behind the pink haired girl.

_It's been ten years… and yet, nothing's really changed. Amu still likes Tadase, Tadase still likes Amu. I'm still jealous of Tadase. It's basically the past happening all over again…_

**.: six months later :.**

Ikuto woke up, much _much_ earlier than usual, when he heard some very loud knocking on the door of his apartment. Quietly cursing whoever decided to wake him up before he would normally get up, he got up and opened the door. He was surprised to see Amu standing there, wide awake and smiling at him.

"Ikuto!" She practically screamed. "Guess what?!"

Ikuto only stared at her, not replying. Amu shrugged, taking the silence as a hint to continue.

"Tadase proposed to me!" She exclaimed happily. "And and I said YES!"

Ikuto felt it harder and harder to keep that casual smile on his face. If there was any other time that he wished he was Tadase instead of himself, now would be when he wished that the most. He wanted to be that little blonde, prince-like kid. The one that could make Amu smile that brightly, the one that could get her anything she _truly_ wanted.

The one who was loved by her.

As difficult as it was, Ikuto managed to grin at her.

"Well… congragulations," He said as cheerfully as possible, already beginning to close the door.

"Wait!" Amu called, stopping the door with her foot. "You… um … you remember how all those years ago, you helped me practice dancing for that dance Tadase invited me to?"

Ikuto only nodded, his tolerance was beginning to disappear and now it felt like there was something lodged inside his throat.

"Um… " Amu continued. "I know the wedding's not for another six months, and you're invited of course; but… do you think you can help me practice again?"

Ikuto _really_ didn't want to. He'd rather be doing so many other things. Maybe, if he hadn't helped Amu that time, she wouldn't have impressed Tadase enough for them to still love each other that way.

Then Amu might have actually been his.

But, much to his surprise, he nodded and opened the door wider for Amu to come in.

"Let's hope that you still remember at least what I taught you last time," He heard himself say jokingly. Amu smiled.

"I remember it," She whispered, taking Ikuto's hands and practically leading the dance herself.

**.: wedding day :.**

Ikuto tried to concentrate on the important ceremony going on, he really did. But, he found himself always anxiously glancing at the exit in the back. Either that, or he was glaring at Tadase. Neither was very polite, so he tried to focus on the simple, yet beautiful, design of Amu's dress. It was white and strapless, with lots of ruffles on the skirt trailing down behind her. **(picture on blog / profile)**

Then his eyes would travel up to the face of the person in that dress, and seeing how happy Amu looked would make him feel pain all over again.

Miraculously, though, Ikuto finally heard the music starting up again, signaling that the ceremony as over. He jumped out of his seat, eager to be anywhere but there. But sadly, there was still the banquet to go to.

Ikuto started walking out, and spotted Tadase and Amu posing for pictures together along the way. The two of them looked so happy together, it almost made him feel sick.

It was like a twisted, horrible version of the Cinderella fairytale. Ikuto wanted something that he knew he would never have, because he wasn't good enough for it. Amu was like the glass slipper, that came when it liked, could change sizes whenever for whatever reasons, or can just vanish from your life. Ikuto actually believed that Amu was his and his only once. Stupidity? No, it was really more like being naïve.

No one ever told a story of what happened if Cinderella's slippers never really fit her.

* * *

**Ew . Cruddy ending Blech .**

**Anyways , it's late , I'm mad at my mom again , I've got a Spanish test tomorrow , so I'm going to sleep . Goodnight .**

**Review ? :D**


	3. Imaginations

**Got this idea from a book , Sundays at Tiffany's , by James Patterson . It's a really cute book , especially how Jane and Michael are reunited in the end &Michael gets to stay a human forever (: So sweet .**

**Made a Facebook fanpage . Because I really need to stop accepting friend requests from you guys D: My dad went through my buddy list and he was like "Oh , who's **** **** ? And who's **** ****** ? And who's ******* **** ?" &So on T_T It's so retarded , so I'm just going to avoid that entirely from now on .**

**But if you already added me , don't worry(: Don't remove me or anything , since I told my dad that you guys are all in my "English class" :D Fanpage link is on my profile page .**

**Mmm , I seem to love writing about "Amu the little kid" , rather than "Amu the preteen" o: Pedo , much ? xDD jkjk .**

**xoxFallenStarxox : **Thank you !

**I'm-amazing-deal-with-it : **Thanks ~

**HlorkexD : **Thank you (:

**Rimiish : **Ah , so you speak Spanish . Mi espanol es muy terrible ._. Tan tengo que ir una clase para aprender . Fail . o:

**Yoone1104 : **See your PM inbox for reply .

**Amuto20174 : **Maybe it's because Ikuto's cool enough to take the pain like a man ? :D Jkjk .

**YukiHoshina : **OMG TAE YANG *insert gigantic heart here* BABY , JEBAL GUYE SONUL JAPIMA . :D lol , sorry . Spazzed into fangirl-ism for a moment o:

**Angel of Randomosity : **Aw , don't worry ;D He's always welcome to come have me .

**Xhappily-randomx: **D:

**Aiko-Lawliet-8D : **Thank yous ~

**Snowiisan : **Well that's what you get when I start writing right after breaking up with my bf ._.

**Sylvanicara : **Okay , byeee !

**Sylvanicara : **… Bye ?

**P.S. Ami's not born yet :D So don't expect her in the story . Ikuto &Amu are only one year apart , or else Ikuto would've been too old for an imaginary friend D: !

* * *

**

"Table for three, please," Mrs. Hinamori said to the waiter politely. Her five year old daughter, Amu, suddenly straightened up and glared at her mother.

"Mom!" She protested angrily. "You forgot to save Ikuto a seat again!"

Amu's mother sighed.

"Amu-chan," She said gently, but in a defeated kind of way. "When are you going to outgrow Ikuto? He's not real."

"And he just _had_ to be a guy…" Amu's father muttered to himself, but was completely ignored. Amu stared at Mrs. Hinamori straight in the eye.

"Ikuto's very real!" She argued. "He talks to me; we play together; everything real people do!"

Mrs. Hinamori took a deep breath.

_Amu'll grow out of it soon … I mean, she can't believe in imaginary friends forever, can she?_

Behind Amu, teenager Ikuto smirked and placed a hand on Amu's shoulder.

"Don't worry," He assured the little girl. "She's just jealous that you can see me and she can't."

Amu turned to look at him.

"And why can't she see you?" She asked him. "Why can't everyone else see that you're real?"

Ikuto frowned. How was he supposed to explain to a five year old that he was _not_ real; that he was just something that she imagined up? That he was something that would disappear once Amu grew out of him?

He replaced his frown with a reassuring look.

"Well because I'm _your_ friend," He said smoothly. "Not hers."

Amu shrugged, seeming to take that for a legit answer, and followed her parents to their table in the restaurant. As she had expected, her mother had _not_ gotten Ikuto a seat, so she pulled one of the chairs from the table next to their and dragged it beside hers.

"Don't worry, Ikuto," She said, patting the seat. "You can sit here."

Ikuto smirked and climbed into the chair, both he and Amu ignoring Mr. and Mrs. Hinamori's exasperated sighs.

"So Ikuto," Amu asked, turning back to the chair beside her. "What do you want to eat?"

"Honestly…" Amu's father grumbled from across the table. "Do we have to buy 'Ikuto' food, too?"

Amu stared at him disbelievingly.

"Yes!" She said loudly, sounding totally shocked that he would even ask such a thing. "Of course! Do you want Ikuto-kun to starve?!"

"Amu-chan," Her mother suddenly cut in. "You always end up eating it, so you eat two meals. That's really unhealthy."

Amu only glared at her parents.

_They don't get it!_

Ikuto, who had been quietly sitting in his seat until then, turned to Amu.

"It's fine," He told her gently. "I'm not even hungry anyways. You don't have to get me anything."

Amu nodded.

"Fine," She finally agreed. As she was talking, she saw one of the waiters walking over to take their orders. She turned to Ikuto.

"Ikuto," She whispered, scooting closer to him and pulling on some of his dark blue hair. "Here comes to waiter, so look invisible."

Ikuto smirked, trying his best to "look invisible". Even though he knew that either way the waiter wouldn't be able to see him.

**.: Two years later :.**

Amu sat up in her bed, yawning and stretching as she glanced around her room. She turned around to wake up her friend.

"Hey Ikuto," She mumbled. "Wake up."

But, there was no one there. Amu's eyes widened the slightest bit, but she didn't think much of it. There were always those days where Ikuto wouldn't be there when Amu got up. He would be gone "talking to fellow imaginary friends", as he put it.

Although, she couldn't help but remember what he had said a few nights back …

"_Amu …" Ikuto mumbled, more to himself than to Amu. "You're really growing up …"_

_Amu didn't bother to look up from the dolls she was playing with, but raised an eyebrow._

"_Is that supposed to be a good or bad thing?" She asked. Ikuto thought for a moment, then shrugged._

"_Both … I guess," He said slowly. "Good for you, since you'll become a more mature person. But … I guess I'll miss you …"_

_Amu's head suddenly snapped up._

"_What do you mean 'I'll miss you'?" She demanded. "You're staying, aren't you?"_

_Ikuto hesitated. He stood up and walked over to bend down beside the pink-headed girl._

"_But if you grow up," He said, trying to keep his voice void of all sad tones. "Then you'll outgrow everything you liked when you were little … you'll outgrow me … and then I'll disappear."_

_Amu's eyes widened._

"_No!" She almost screamed, throwing her arms around him. "Ikuto can't leave! He's my best friend!"_

Not to mention my _only_ friend …

_Ikuto was startled by her sudden outburst, but slowly put one arm around her shoulders._

"_Don't worry, I won't be gone until you're really ready," He promised. "Besides, when I really do disappear, you won't even remember I existed in the first place."_

Amu frowned at her memory. What if … what if this was the time when Ikuto had talked to her about, that time when he would have to leave her?

She let out a small laugh, but it sounded somewhat forced.

"Hinamori Amu," She said confidently to herself. "Don't be stupid. Ikuto wouldn't have disappeared yet. He said that you wouldn't remember anything about him when he did, and guess what? You _do_ remember him. Besides, you're not ready for him to go yet! He's probably out wandering around or something some more!"

Feeling somewhat better about her missing companion, Amu changed out of the pajamas she was wearing and into normal street clothes before bolting down the stairs in her house to join her family for breakfast.

_Ikuto … just come back soon, okay? Or else I'll be bored for a longggg time!_

**.: 10 years later (Amu's 17 now .) :.**

Amu stood on her tiptoes, trying to reach the book on the top shelf. After jumping a few times, she finally grabbed it, pulling it down before opening it and casually flipping through it. She frowned.

_Crap … this isn't the right book!_

Amu sighed. She shoved the book back into one of the lower shelves, not feeling like climbing all the way up there, and headed towards the workers standing around at the front of the bookstore.

_Maybe they'll know where I can find it … But if Ikuto were here, he'd have helped me find the right book in no time at all!_

At the memory of her imaginary companion, she stopped in her tracks.

Ikuto … he had never come back, but Amu refused to believe that he was truly gone, since she still remembered every moment of when he was here.

Yet … it had been a whole _decade_ since she had last seem him.

She took a deep breath, shaking off her thoughts and continued walking. Her pace quickened noticeably, but Amu made no move to slow herself down. Her walking just continued to quickened, and soon she was almost at a full-blown run. She wasn't even seeing what was in front of her.

… Until she bumped into something. Or, to be more accurate, _someone_.

When she was finally aware of her surroundings again, she found herself face to face with someone's … back. She looked up , and saw the person turn around and give her a "what the heck were you doing?" look.

He looked so familiar to her. Like Amu had seen him somewhere or known him in a past life. He looked _a lot_ like … Ikuto.

Trying to be conspicuous, Amu took a closer look at him. He looked somewhere between 17 and 25, just like her Ikuto did. His eyebrows, his ears, his hair, and finally, his eyes … they all looked the same. Those beautiful, midnight-blue eyes. The ones she would look into every night when she was a child, and think nothing of it.

Those same eyes that were studying her the same way she was studying him right now.

The man seemed to realize what he was doing, and suddenly straightened up and leaned away.

"Oh …" He mumbled. "I'm sorry. It's just that you looked _really_ familiar…"

Amu shook her head.

"Don't worry," She said. "You looked kind of familiar to me, too."

The man raised an eyebrow and smirked a smirk that looked just like Ikuto's.

"Well then," He told her playfully. "Why don't we go get something to eat, and then we can figure out where it was that we've seen each other before?"

Amu nodded and followed him out of the bookstore. Right before they reached the exit, the man turned around and looked at her.

"By the way," He said. "I'm Tsukiyomi Ikuto. And you are … ?"

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto chuckled, scooping out some more ice cream from the bowl in front of him and popping it into his mouth.

"So let me get this straight," He said, another smirk playing around on his lips. "When you were little, you had an imaginary friend that looked like me, acted like me, and had the same name as me?"

Amu felt a light blush form on her cheeks as she turned away and nodded. Ikuto grinned, causing Amu's cheeks to redden.

_Is he … making fun of me?!_

"What's so funny?" She finally managed to ask him. Ikuto shook his head.

"It's so strange," He said. "Because what I was going to tell you was exactly what you just told me."

Amu tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"What … ?"

"I had an imaginary friend when I was younger, also," Ikuto explained. "Her name was Amu, she had pink hair and golden eyes, and she would turn red at just about everything I said. In other words, she was just like you."

Amu's eyes widened in horror as she leaned back into her seat.

_This guy … was he some sort of pervert or something when he was little?!_

Ikuto sighed.

"But," He continued. "She disappeared one day, and-"

"And you never saw her again," Amu finished for him. "And she told you that you'd forget her when she really did disappear, but you do remember, so you think that she's not gone yet."

Ikuto stared at her, wide-eyed.

"How'd you know?" He asked. Amu shrugged.

"Because the same thing happened to me," She said softly. Ikuto frowned and thought for a moment.

"How old were you when 'Ikuto' went missing?" He asked. A flash of confusion passed through Amu's eyes. How was that relevant to anything?

"I think I was … " She answered slowly. "Around seven years old. Why?"

"So you were seven," Ikuto mumbled to himself quietly. "And I'm a year older than you … so I was eight. And 'Amu' disappeared when I was 8 …"

"The two of them disappeared at around the same time," Amu said.

"And right before she disappeared," Ikuto continued. "It was when I first moved here to Tokyo."

Amu raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh really?" She asked. "Because right after Ikuto disappeared someone moved into the house across the street from mine … "

Ikuto stared at Amu.

"Are you my neighbor?" They asked each other at the same time. Ikuto gave her his address, and Amu widened her eyes.

"You live …" She murmured. "In that house … across the street from mine …"

"And this whole time we didn't notice this," Ikuto muttered. "How pathetic of us. Anyways, so now we know that they were around until I moved to that house across the street from yours."

"Maybe …" Amu suggested. "They _did_ disappear, and we _were_ supposed to forget, but for some reason we didn't … ?"

Ikuto frowned and shook his head. It was so strange, talking to someone he had just met today about an imaginary friend of his from when he was younger. Yet, he was still extremely curious to what had happened all those years ago.

"Ikuto disappeared when Ikuto moved to my street … " Amu said out loud to herself. "Maybe those two are connected …"

"And maybe that's it," Ikuto suddenly said. "The imaginary one disappears once the real one showed up."

Amu stared at him quizzically.

"So you're claiming to be the imaginary friend of mine that went missing ten years ago," She replied flatly. Ikuto shrugged.

"Well you said it yourself, didn't you?" He asked her. "You told me that I was just like him."

"I know I did," Amu protested. "But that doesn't mean that you _are_ him!"

Ikuto stared at her for a moment.

"You know what?" He asked. "Forget I said anything. This is getting too confusing."

Amu only nodded in agreement with him. It _was_ getting confusing; any more of that and her head would've started spinning.

"I … I guess you're right," She said, standing up. "Well, I guess I'll see you around then, Ikuto. Nice meeting you."

She didn't look back as she left him.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu stepped into the safety of her own bedroom, letting out a sigh.

"That was so weird," She complained to herself. "I met someone that looked like Ikuto … and he was named Ikuto, too, and he looked like Ikuto and sounded like him and everything … "

"What'd you just say about me?"

Amu's eyes widened as she spun her head around wildly, looking for who said that. Her eyes drifted to her bed, and landed on someone lying stretched out on her bed.

"I-Ikuto?!" She practically screamed. "What are you doing here?"

Ikuto sat up in the bed, jumping off of it and walking towards her. Once he was standing in front of Amu, he lifted up a hand to mess up her bubblegum-pink hair.

"Aw, Amu," He teased. "Why so mean? You're being very rude to the person who was your friend when you were little. The one who would check under your bed for monsters at night, the one who would help you find that missing toy you were always looking for … and this is the thanks I get?"

Amu gasped.

"You're not the Ikuto I saw today!" She said. "You're … you're … you're the Ikuto from when I was little!"

Ikuto smirked and nodded as Amu's mouth split into a wide smile.

"Ikuto!" She exclaimed as she threw her arms around him. "Ikuto, where were you? I missed you."

Even though she couldn't see it, Amu felt Ikuto smiling as well.

"It's like I told you," He told her. "I was going to be gone as soon as you were all ready and grown up and didn't need me anymore. But, based on what happened to you today, it seems like you need me all over again. So here I am."

Amu pulled away, her smile fading away rapidly.

"But …" She protested. "I wasn't ready … Do you know how worried I was when you first went missing?"

Ikuto frowned and pulled Amu back closer to him.

"That's what bothers me," He said, his eyes wide with honesty. "You _weren't_ supposed to remember. I have no idea why you did. But, if I knew that that was how you'd react, then I would've never left in the first place."

Amu stared at him.

"So what made you think that I was 'grown up' enough for you to go away anyways?" She asked. Ikuto lifted up his head and glanced out of the bedroom window. He pointed at a light turning on in the house across the street.

"That," He answered. "I mean, look at that guy. His name's Ikuto, he has blue hair, he acts and talks and looks just like me. So obviously you don't need me anymore when you have him living a few feet away from you. Why would you want me, the one that only you can see, when you can have him, the one that everyone else can see as well?"

Amu frowned. His logic worked out perfectly.

"But I still missed you," She said quietly. Ikuto's expression softened.

"I know," He told her. "And now, you should get some sleep."

Amu shook her head.

"But you just got here," She whined. "Will you still be here tomorrow?"

Ikuto hesitated.

"I'm not making any promises."

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto wasn't there when Amu woke up the next morning. A sad smile on her face, she climbed out of the bed and headed downstairs, as if it were a regular morning. As if last night didn't even exist in her memory. As if all of yesterday altogether didn't even happen.

But it did.

When she opened her front door to get out of the house, she saw him.

"I-Ikuto?!" She stammered. Ikuto nodded slowly.

"Yeah …" He answered slowly. Amu calmed down.

"So which one are you?" She asked. "The real one or the imaginary one?"

Ikuto grinned.

"The real one," He answered truthfully. "But the imaginary one _did_ have a chat with me last night. I have to admit, it's really awkward seeing someone who looks just like you stand in front of you and start talking to you …"

Amu's eyes widened.

"He did?" She exclaimed indignantly. "But he's _my_ imaginary friend, not yours!"

Ikuto shrugged.

"I'm confused, too," He said. "But he told me to do this."

Ikuto leaned down and gave Amu a quick peck on the lips. The pink haired girl's face was immediately a tomato red.

"_Ikuto _told you to do that?!" She shouted disbelievingly. Ikuto shrugged and nodded.

"Don't ask me why," He said, looking just as bewildered as Amu did. "He said it was something about how you don't need him anymore or something … I don't know."

Amu frowned. So what was her childhood friend trying to say? That she was better off without him? But who else would she find that could be just like him?

"You know … " The Ikuto in front of her said slowly, a shy expression on his face as he turned away. "He also told me that you like chocolate ice cream a lot. So … do you want to come with me and get some?"

The words that he said couldn't help but make Amu smile just the slightest bit.

She found her answer.

* * *

**DONE . DONE DONE DONE . Ohmygod , you don't know how long it took me to think of an ending ! Started writing this Sunday night , and now it's Wednesday (or more like early Thursday morning ._.) , and I finally thought of a craptastic ending . 8 freaking pages too D:**

**Ah well , going on vacation on Friday , be back on Sunday . Going to a cousin's wedding in LA ^^**

**Review &add the FB fanpage !**

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	4. Message in a Bottle

**Inspired by the book "Message in a Bottle" , by Nicholas Sparks (by the way , I find it really sad that Garrett died in the end D:) . My new favorite author(: Because it took me until now to realize that he was the original author of "A Walk to Remember" and "The Notebook" . Both movies which made me cry o: Because they were so great . WATCH THEM . NAO O: !**

**DonnySpeaks on youtube . Watch his video on "Self Esteem." , because he is the only guy that actually **_**gets it**_** . I'm dead serious . I love the way his mind works (: He would make a really good girl .**

**Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas ~ Better than mine ._. *points at latest chapter of My Star* But they say that the people who are truly respected are those who can smile at all insults directed at them.**

**Darkjewl : **Well English has always been the class I've done the best in o_o So that was the first one that came to mind . Mk , except it'll have to be on a weekend , since I'm not normally allowed to stay up that late ._.

**AhYingx3 : **Updated My Star … except it's not exactly an "update" . More like a epic rant / an explanation for why I'm not going to update anytime too soon :\

**Otaku-for-life : **It's a cute book (: I mean , it's not every day where you find someone that gets to marry their imaginary friend , no ?

**Amutoloveee :** Mmm , I'm starting to like the whole sweet / cute thing better now o: What do you think of it ? Nice change from all that sappy stuff I write , right ?

**Nessz : **Don't cry D: Laugh more ! :D Because there are two things that make the world go round : laughter & love (: Ah , I don't fly very often . Last time was … I think when I went to Yellowstone back in August ._.

**Himeka Tsukiyomi : **Aw , thank you ! :D Don't forget to update your one-shots , too though ! I really love how cute they are and everything ~

**Amuto20174 : **Errr … imaginary Ikuto'll be fine . He can find imaginary Amu … in that world where all abandoned imaginary friends go ? :D Wild guess , lol .

**Snowiisan : **Yep . Because he's a cheater with 7 girlfriends :x well … six now since I'm officially done . Heard there was a huge shooting in the city he lived in , and I can't say that I wished the best for him (x

**Czy4mnk1254 : **D: Don't cry ! Like I said , laughter & love are the two things that make the world spin round n' round xD Ehehehe , I give their marriage until the honeymoon .

**Xhappily-randomx : **Ah , thank you ! But it's not original . I put it in the author's note , remember ? I got the idea from the book Sundays at Tiffanys' .

* * *

Amu slowed her run down to a steady walk, talking the time to enjoy the scenery in front of her. It was like a routine for her, now that summer had come to replace hectic school days: she would get up at whatever time in the morning, and go out for a run to keep herself in shape for when she had to do more guardian work when school started again.

It would always be the exact same routine also. First out of her house, then to the beach then back. The beach was always so pretty; Amu picked that as her destination since she would get there when the sun was in just that most beautiful place in the sky.

Stopping in her normal spot, she put aside her intentions of running and decided to just enjoy herself a bit at the beach. It was still early, not too early but early enough so that the sand wasn't littered with young, annoying kids yet.

She walked slowly, taking her time to enjoy how quiet everything was. Everything looked the same as last time she was here, but she wasn't complaining. It was always the same; it almost looked pretty.

Until something shiny glimmering caught her eye.

Amu stopped in her tracks, the shiny object completely distracting her. She headed toward it, and when she got closer that she realized that it was a bottle. Curiosity got the best of her, and she pulled the bottle out of the sand. Inside of it was a small, rolled up piece of paper. She almost laughed.

_A message in a bottle? But that's so cliché …_

Still, Amu popped the bottle open and carefully pulled the message out. There were so many smudges on the paper, as if the person who wrote the letter didn't know what they were writing and just scribbled down whatever drifted into their minds.

_To my little adorable Ichigo; _the letter read.

_You probably won't get this … well it's obvious that you'll never get this. I'm tossing this in a bottle in the freaking middle of an ocean. What are the odds that you'll be the one person that'll pick this up?_

_Anyways, I just wanted to say that even though I'm in Europe right now, I still think about you. A lot. Not joking. I wasn't joking when I told you that I loved you; I did love you and I still do. And I still miss you a whole lot. I miss the way you'd be all curious about whatever it is that I was doing, and then I would tease you about it make you blush in that really cute way of yours. Then you'd get mad, we'd stop talking for a few minutes, and then the whole cycle would start all over again. Sounds pretty lame, I know, but I really did enjoy all that time._

_Well … I guess that's all I needed to say. Like I promised, I will be back one day, and I want to know that I _will_ come back and find you when I do. So … just wait for me. Please? It's the least you could do._

Amu continued reading, but that was the end. No signature, no clue whatsoever to who had written them. Yet, it sounded strangely familiar. Like she could directly relate to what was written. "my little Ichigo". Wasn't that Ikuto's old nickname for her? And that was what she and Ikuto would do at nights: Amu would blush whenever Ikuto decided to make fun of her.

She shook her head. It wasn't possible, was it? It wasn't Ikuto's character to do something like this, something as cliché as a spilling out everything he felt into a message and putting it into a bottle tossed into an ocean for anyone in the world to read. And, besides, what were the odds that the person who the letter was actually directed to was the one who would pick it up in the end?

Amu sighed, walking to one of the bins at the edge of the beach to dispose of the bottle properly and then slipping the letter into her pants pocket.

_It's so silly … believing that Ikuto of all people wrote that letter. It's already been almost three years since he left; why would he chose now to send one, instead of when he first left … ?_

**.: one week later :.**

Amu set out on her daily run by the beach again; though this time she decided to stop at the scenic place a little longer than normal. It wasn't that she had a sudden deeper interest in the beauty of the landscape, but she was hoping that she'd find another bottle. She had to admit, she was extremely curious about who was the sender, as much as her mind told her that it was Ikuto.

She walked slowly around the sandy beach, even occasionally bending down to dig in the sand in hopes of finding another one. After almost an hour of searching, though, she felt that she should give up.

_Maybe it's too early … maybe that it would probably take more than a week for someone to write a letter and then toss it into the ocean…_

"Hey, Mom!" A child shouted, interrupting her thoughts. "Mom, look what I found!"

Amu turned around to see who was doing all the yelling, and saw a small child running toward his mother, who was sitting on a beach towel some ways back.

And in the kid's hand was a small glass bottle … with a piece of paper inside.

"Mom," He repeated. "What is this?"

The mother picked it up, holding it away from her as she looked at it in disgust.

"Ugh," She whined in a tone that made Amu instantly think of "_bitch_". "Why did you pick up such garbage? Look, it's all wet and covered with sand and everything! Here, go throw this away in that garbage can over there."

The young child nodded and toddled off to where his mother pointed to, bottle still in hand. Amu's eyes widened. He couldn't throw it in there; then it would be covered in real garbage and Amu would probably be more reluctant to pick it up. She ran over to him.

"Wait!" She called out just as the child was about to toss the bottle away. "Don't throw that!"

The kid turned to her, head tilted to the side in confusion.

"Why not?" He asked. "Mom said it was garbage."

Amu hesitated.

"Because … um … " She lied. "It's not garbage. Yeah … that belongs to me. And I lost it and was trying to look for it. So … can I have it back?"

So it wasn't that much of a lie. Amu was trying to look for it, and it certainly wasn't garbage.

The kid shrugged.

"Sure," He said, handing her the bottle. Amu smiled at him.

"Thank you!" She said in her most cheerful voice before running off with the bottle. Once she was a good distance away, she eagerly tore the cap off and pulled out the letter inside. She took a deep breath as she unrolled it and started reading from the top line …

_To my little adorable Ichigo,_

_Even though now I'm sure that you're not going to receive any of these. But, I found out that if I keep imagining that you will, I guess it makes me miss you just a little less._

_Last time I sent one of those bottles out, I was in France. But, now I'm in England. And as much fun as I'm having travelling around with my dad (who I found back in China, by the way), I still miss you tons. I think of you … a little too much, according to all of those people that work with my dad. They tell me that whenever they try to talk to me or ask me something, I always somehow manage to get you into the conversation. Not that I'm saying that it's a bad thing, though … unless, that is, you _want_ it to be._

_Anyways, I was going through my dad's schedule for the next couple of months, and I realized that we'll be coming back to Japan soon! And I promise to stop by and see you when I get there._

And once again, the letter was left anonymously unsigned. Amu frowned, getting more and more curious about who was sending these letters. Even though her mind had already decided that it was Ikuto, she still had her doubts. It was either that it wasn't him, or he had grown up enough in the past few years to do something like this. And that wasn't likely, at least to Amu.

She shrugged, stuffing the letter into her pocket before taking off again.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu stepped back onto the sandy ground of the beach. It had been a while now, and no matter how often she came back to check every day, there would be no bottle.

_Well, get a bit more realistic. Someone out there had dropped a bottle in the middle of the ocean. You were probably already really lucky to find two of them on the same beach, what are the odds that the rest of them will land in the same place again? It's all up to the ocean, remember?_

Still, she never gave up. She would religiously come every single day, sometimes even twice a day, to search the sand for her much wanted bottled messages.

However, after almost two hours, she was just about ready to give up her search for the day.

_Relax … there's always tomorrow too. Don't give up!_

Sighing, she walked over to one of the large rocks on the edge of the beach and took a seat on one of them. Despite their rocky appearance, they were actually quite comfortable if you had the patience to find just the right position to sit in. Once Amu got settled in, she propped up her elbows on her knees, placing her chin on her hands and enjoying the scenery in front of her.

But, like all peaceful things tend to do, it eventually got boring. Amu felt herself beginning to fall asleep…

… Until she heard a loud thump in front of her. Her eyes flew open, and she spotted a bottle, standing up in the sand right in front of her.

And inside of it was a nicely rolled up piece of paper.

She turned her head around, trying to see who dropped it there. And then she saw.

Sitting on one of the rocks behind her, with a huge smirk on his face, was none other than Tsukiyomi Ikuto.

Amu gasped, and she couldn't help but let a huge smile form on her mouth.

"Ikuto!" She explained. "When did you get back?"

Ikuto shrugged.

"An hour ago…" He replied. "Give or take a little while."

Amu held up the bottle that was in front of her.

"So what is this for?" She asked, her thoughts already forming a connection. Ikuto's smirk softened into a warm smile.

"Just read it."

Amu eyed him curiously, put pulled off the cap and dropped the letter out. She carefully unfolded it, and was surprised to see only eight words long, even though the paper was a normal sized piece.

_I love you. How about loving me too?_

Amu read and reread the paper over again, her eyes wide. After a few minutes Ikuto frowned and lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey … " He said slowly. "You okay?"

Amu's head snapped up and she nodded, her cheeks beginning to color.

"Yeah … " She mumbled. "I'm fine."

Ikuto's frown didn't lighten up.

"But you don't look fine," He said, as if he were stating a basic, obvious fact. Amu stared at him.

"Ikuto," She asked slowly, her voice quieting with every syllable. "If you wrote that … does that mean you wrote these two too?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the other two letters, the one that she had found in various other bottles. Ikuto's eyes widened when he saw them in her hand, but he nodded.

"Yeah," He said after a moment of silence. "Yes, I did."

"And are these about …" Amu continued. "Me … ?"

Ikuto smirked and raised up an arm to mess up Amu's pink hair.

"Let's see," He reasoned. "How many people in the world do you think have enough pink hair for me to call them "my little Ichigo"?"

Amu blushed and shrugged as she turned her face away from his gaze.

"Not that many …"

Ikuto grinned.

"So yes," He told her. "Yes I was talking about you. And I meant every word of it, too."

Amu's head quickly turned to look back at him.

"Really … ?" Her voice trailed off. Ikuto nodded, and Amu couldn't help but smile back.

**.: two weeks later :.**

Amu walked behind her Ikuto, her hand intertwined with his the entire time.

"So you're really going to be leaving again … huh?" She whispered sadly. Ikuto stopped walking. He turned around and smiled at her.

"Yeah … " He said, giving her a hug. "But you already managed to go for a long time without seeing me. This time I'll be back sooner."

Amu frowned.

"Still," She pointed out, pulling the letters . "That was before I got these guys."

Ikuto grinned.

"So then you'll have something to remember me by," He told her. Amu shrugged halfheartedly.

"I know … " She said softly. "But it's three pieces of paper. That's enough, is it? We had so much fun while you were here … "

Ikuto sensed her sadness, and tightened his hug.

"If it makes you any happier," He suggested. "I'll write them more… and this time I'll mail them to your house instead of throwing them in the ocean."

Amu smiled.

"Do both," She said. "Because I think the whole message in a bottle thing is awesome, but I want something from you in case I end up never getting the ones in the ocean."

Ikuto grinned.

"Then I'll be sure to write both kinds," He said, releasing Amu just as he saw his father approaching.

"Ikuto-kun," Ikuto's dad said. "You ready to get going?"

Ikuto nodded.

"Bet there in a minute," He replied before his dad walked away again. Ikuto turned back to Amu.

"So … I guess this is bye … " He said slowly. Amu nodded.

"I guess it is."

Ikuto sighed at the awkwardness.

"Don't forget to write," Amu said.

"I'll call, too."

"You better."

Ikuto smirked one last time before turning around to follow his dad.

"Wait!" Amu called out. Ikuto stopped and turned back to her.

"Yes?"

Amu stared at the ground shly.

"Don't forget … " She said, barely audible. "That I love you."

Ikuto stared at her for a moment longer before quickly running back to her. He bent down and gave her a kiss.

But it was gone almost as quickly as it began.

"I love you too," He told her, before going back to his dad.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu sat cross-legged on her bed. Even though Ikuto had only left that morning, she already felt that he had been gone for an eternity. She missed him that much.

Then an idea hit her, straight in the head, she ran downstairs and went through the cabinets in the kitchen of her house until she found what she was looking for. An empty glass bottle.

Once Amu finally found one, she grabbed it raced back to her room. She dug through the drawers of her desk and found a piece of paper.

After settling herself down on a chair in front of her desk, she pulled out a pen and began writing at the top of the page.

_To my wonderfully perverted Neko…

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_

**Mmm . So what did you think ? o: Personally , I don't like that goodbye scene . But it doesn't matter what I think , it matters what the readers think ? (x**

**Review ? :D**

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	5. She Woke Up

**Good news & bad news . The good news is that TODAY IS THE OFFICIAL END OF MY FIRST YEAR ON FANFICTION ^^ January 19 , 2009 – January 19 , 2010 . It was such a year well spent(: Despite all the drama & biters I had to run into ._. But still . Even though there was so much shit to deal with , even though I almost ended up quitting … three times o_o … I'm still here and writing :D**

**The bad news is that Snowii's fanfiction account got hacked (Of course , if you have my FB fanpage added , you would've found about this a few days back) ._. I still don't know who exactly hacked me , but I am royally pissed at them . So far , I haven't seen anything in particular that they might've done , but if you see anything (like some nasty review or something from "me" D:) then TELL ME .**

**Made a new YouTube . ForeverSnowy . I know it's not much right now (as of now , three subscribers :D) , but check it out when you can !**

**Idea from "The Choice" by Nicholas Sparks (PSST . Travis in the book sounds pretty hot , to be honest . & Gabby's cool too ^^) . Because his books are just too sexy(: Reading "The Last Song" right now . So no spoilers , mk?**

**Haiti's Earthquake :\ I really feel horrible about what those people have to go through & I'd be lying if I said I felt no guilt by sitting here in front of a laptop while thousands of children are in that country , living on the hopes that their family members might be found alive under all that rubble . My heart goes out to them .**

… **Especially since last year I helped donate some money to build a house in Haiti . And I saw that exact house as one of the ones that collapsed that were shown on CNN . I feel absolutely awful about that , and I can't help but believe that if I had donated some more money , that house might've had a stronger structure and still might be half … or even a quarter of a house instead of a pile of broken material .**

**Longgg a/n this time o_o ON TO THE REPLIES !**

**Himeka Tsukiyomi : **Mhmm , I really love your oneshots(:

**Chibixbabe : **Awww , thanks ~

**ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat : **Thank you very much :D

**Iluvbleach10 : **Pshh , when people used to it was really cliché . Now it's an old cliché .

**Amuto20174 : **Not in my standards(x

**AhYingx3 : **Mmmm … forget about My Star for a bit , mk ? :\

**Otaku-for-life : **LOL I loved mine too(: He was the bestest imaginary buddy _ever_ .

**Darkjewl : **Eh , I've never had a Mac . So I can't really compare something I've never had to my freakishly old Windows . iloveyoutoo :3 I'll be on FB around your time on the weekends , I can't stay up that late on weekdays because then I'd have to get up early :\

**Xhappily-randomx : **O: ! READ IT . It's like … an awesome book . But then again , I think all of Sparks' books are awesome . But be sure to read "The Last Song" at all costs . Or at least watch the movie (which I'm never watching … because the main female role is MILEY CYRUS ! *gasp*)

**WARNING : OOC Ikuto much ?(: Plus fear an overrated cliché HOSPITAL SCENE :D Ikuto's in his early / mid 20's , Amu's in her late teens .

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**

Tsukiyomi Ikuto walked through the familiar lobby of the Tokyo hospital , a rather large bouquet of roses gripped tightly in his hands. Just like usual … whatever "usual" could be described as for the past year and a half. Though it was more like two years.

Coming here was completely regular to Ikuto. He just had to see Amu whenever he could, even though he knew it was impossible for her to talk to him now. He wasn't sure that she _would_ if she _could_.

He took the familiar steps up the flights of stairs; he had learned from experience that the elevators were always too jam-packed with people carrying depressing conversations about their ill love ones. No point in adding to his troubles.

Room 802. Ikuto turned the door knob as soon as he arrived at the front of the room without bothering to knock beforehand. There was no point; the only person he would listen to if told to "get out" was the one person that wouldn't be doing any talking to him.

As he walked in, Ikuto took a deep breath, hoping that something would've changed in the past few days he hadn't been by to visit his love. But as soon as his eyes scanned the room, his hope was gone as fast as it had come. Nothing had changed.

Still, he forced a semi-happy smile onto his face.

"Hey, Amu," He said, placing the bouquet on the windowsill and then taking a seat on the chair next to the bed in the center of the room. Ikuto reached onto the bed, taking the hand of the petite-sized girl lying on the bed.

Ikuto did a quick glance-over of her. She still hasn't moved a bit, but it wasn't like she had for a long while now. Her skin was a bit paler, and she looked quite thinner. He couldn't help but frown; he could point out all of these problems, yet there was nothing he could do about them.

"Utau told me that she misses you," He began weakly. What was the point, anyways? Not like Amu could even hear him. "But she's doing really well. In fact, she's getting ready for another tour."

He paused for a moment and stared at Amu, feeling pretty stupid for filling up the silence with random things about his _little sister_, of all things. Honestly, as Amu's boyfriend, Ikuto felt that he should be able to do better.

He remembered that his mother once told him when he was a child that apologizing is always the best thing to do. No matter if he apologized almost every other time he was here. The more times the better.

"Amu … " He tried again, his voice even quieter than last time he tried talking to the still body on the bed. "I … I'm sorry. I'm sorry for coming over to your house that night. I'm sorry for convincing you to forget about doing your homework and going to that concert with me instead. I'm sorry I was speeding on the way there. I'm sorry for not listening to you when you told me to slow down. I'm sorry I ran that red light. I'm sorry I didn't see that truck coming at us."

He took a deep, long breath.

"And I'm … sorry that … I couldn't … protect you …"

He closed his eyes and rested his chin on the edge of the bed. His face was so close to hers; if only she could turn back to look at him …

"So … " He whispered. "Amu … why can't you wake up?"

Just as the last word left his mouth, he heard the hospital's room door swing open. Ikuto immediately sat up straight again, and just in time to see both of Amu's parents walk into the room. A doctor followed them in, but backed out of the room as soon as he saw Ikuto sitting in the chair.

"I think … " The older man stated awkwardly. "That I should leave you guys alone to talk about this …"

As soon as the door shut close behind the doctor, Ikuto turned to the Hinamori's, eyebrows raised in confusion. They had worked out a simple schedule, so both parties could have a chance to be with Amu alone. So why were the two of them there when it was _Ikuto's_ turn?

"So … " Ikuto began protectively, not wanting any of his time with his girlfriend taken away. "I thought today was mine."

Amu's father said nothing, just sending Ikuto a glare before retreating to another chair on the opposite side of the room. Ikuto sighed. Ever since the car accident, Amu's dad wanted nothing to do with Ikuto. Probably blamed the whole thing on the blue-haired man. And Ikuto couldn't blame him. After all, if he had been more careful while behind the wheel, none of this would've happened.

"Tsukiyomi-san," Amu's mother said softly. "The doctor … he doesn't think that she's going to wake up … And he wants us to …"

Ikuto suddenly stood up and placed a protective hand back on Amu's hand.

"No," He snapped. "_Never_."

"She's been like this for almost two years now. Don't you think that it's been long enough?"

Ikuto stubbornly shook his head. Amu's mom sighed.

"Ikuto … " She pleaded. "I know you love her. We all do … but don't think that two years is long enough? We can't just keep going on like this with Amu staying like this forever; we're going to have to let go and move on eventually. Ami still asks us when her big sister is going to come back home every day, and you probably already know how anxious we are about the whole thing too. We're her _parents_, so we obviously care about her more than you ever will so we'll know what's best-"

"Still no," Ikuto interrupted, growing more agitated by the second. "You're not going to do anything to her. "

_Seriously … they think that the best thing to do for her is to kill her?! Talk about bad parenting skills …_

Mrs. Hinamori shook her head in defeat and turned to her husband, who just continued glaring at Ikuto.

"Just give me one more month … " Ikuto said suddenly. "One month. That's all I'm asking for. If she doesn't wake up in that time … then … you can do whatever evil thing you want to her."

"We're not being evi-" Amu's father began to protest, but Mrs. Hinamori quickly shut him up before he said something unnecessary.

"One month … " The woman murmured to herself. "One month … if you ask me, I think we should get it over with since even the _doctors _think that Amu's not going to come back. But, considering Amu loved you and cared about you so much, I guess … that we should listen to what you want as well."

Ikuto felt his body relax, and he took a seat on the edge of Amu's bed.

"Thank you," He said over and over again, his gratefulness coloring his tone. He turned back to the pink haired teen laying on the bed. "You hear that, Amu? One more month. So … you better wake up soon, okay?"

He didn't even notice Amu's parents leave the room. In fact, he didn't even look up until a nurse slipped into the room.

"Um … sir," She said, clearing her throat. "Visiting hours are over … so you'll have to leave now."

Ikuto nodded.

"Just give me a moment?" He asked. The nurse nodded politely and disappeared outside the room again. Ikuto turned his attention back to Amu. He placed a hand on her cheek, stroking the pale skin.

"Come back, okay?" He whispered. "Because I miss you. In fact, I'll be right here next to you when you do. I promise."

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto leaned against the counter, drumming his fingers on the counter impatiently. His current customer was taking forever to observe one violin; even longer than what it normally took Ikuto if he ever even needed new strings or something for his violin. Which was actually saying something, since Ikuto could take all the time in the world when it came to violins.

"Sir," He finally said. "We're closing in about ten minutes, so either you're going to buy it today or you can come back tomorrow and buy it then."

The man frowned, deep in thought.

"I think I'll buy it now," He said, carrying his violin of choice to the counter. Ikuto let out a relieved sigh as he calculated up the customer's total. In a way, he had to admit that he enjoyed his job quite a bit. He opened up a violin store, just because it was his favorite instrument, and a place where Amu volunteered and would have been working a summer job in if the … incident hadn't happened. And Ikuto made sure that there were absolutely no calendars in the entire store, just so that he wouldn't have to look at one and start counting down the days until Amu would be really gone forever.

Even so, that didn't stop the mental clock in his head from keeping track. Day 29. Tomorrow morning, just as he had agreed on with Amu's parents. Tomorrow would be the start of the worst day of his life.

"Thanks for your service, sir," Ikuto called out as the satisfied customer was exiting the small store. Time to start locking up.

Just as Ikuto was locking the main entrance door to the shop, he heard his cell phone ring. He pulled it out of his coat pocket, glancing at who the call was from. Tokyo Hospital.

… _This can't be good …_

He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the worst, before answering the phone.

"Hello?"

The three words that person on the other line said to him made him instantly drop the phone in shock.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto panted as he finally reached room 802 of the hospital. Having run all the way there wasn't easy; he had decided against driving since he didn't trust himself behind a wheel at the moment; but he had finally made it.

As much as it killed him too, he slowed himself down as he approached the room. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down so that he would look at least semi-decent when he went inside.

By the time Ikuto got there, the door was already open, and he could hear the buzz of many voices inside. However, only one stood out to him.

"Where's Ikuto-kun?" The voice sounded hoarse and cracked, after going too long without usage, but it was sweet-sounding all the same. "Where's Ikuto? I remember … him saying something about … him being here when I wake up … So where is he … ?"

Ikuto quickened his pace as he walked into the room. And even standing where he was, in the doorway, was good enough for him to see exactly what he had hoped for.

A certain pink haired teenager was sitting up on the bed, her expression dazed and confused. Her little sister was seated on the bed beside her, while her parents, looking happier than ever, were standing off to one side.

Amu lifted up her head, and saw Ikuto standing there. Her face split into a smile.

"Ikuto … " She whispered. Ikuto couldn't help but smile back as he hurried toward her, three words that the hospital worker said still ringing in his mind.

_She woke up_.

* * *

… **Well how was that ? Personally , I really like this one(: Which is really different from the usual "GAH I HATE THIS D:" at the end of each of my stories(x**

**So what do you think ?**


	6. Goodbye, My Star

**NOTHING TO DO WITH MY FANFIC MY STAR . I just … liked the name , & thought if fitted , so I used it again :3**

**Okay , so this time's oneshot was inspired by the … potato salad I had for dinner .__. & a little bit from the song **_**Fading**__**Star **_**by Wheesung . But mostly the potato salad . Just … don't ask .**

**Was going to make this into a songfic , but I just wrote one :\ Besides , the lyrics for the song don't really work out for me anyways . So oneshot it is !**

**You guys can ignore this part if you want . I just really want to get it out , & I doubt anybody on AIM right now really wants to hear this :\ I GOT A 110 FOR MY FINAL IN ENGLISH , BETCH(: SO ****** , IN YOUR FACE FOR CALLING ME A FAILURE FOR NOT UPDATING "MY STAR" FAST ENOUGH FOR YOU . YOU JUST WAIT ; & I WILL RUB IN YOUR SAD FACE EVERY SINGLE GRADE I GET … except for History . I got a C in that one o_o**

**Ahaha . I'm done now .__.**

**Nessz : **D: Aw damnn . I'm sorry):

**Himeka Tsukiyomi : **Thank you !

**LittlePlagueSpirit : **Well she didn't remember everything , I was trying to imply that she only remembered bits & pieces of the time . But your way works too ^^

**LittlePlagueSpirit : **Ah , it's okay ! I wasn't really expecting anyone to wish me anything . I just felt like letting you guys know it was that date since it was a really important milestone in _my_ opinion . Are you saying that I didn't reply to your reviews ? D: Because if that's the case , I'm sorry . I normally do the replies either really early in the morning or really late at night , so I'm not exactly thinking straight …

**HlorkexD : **Well , is there anything you need to say ? o_o Because me knowing that you liked it is all I need to know .

**Kairou Watoshimi : **.__. Yes . It sucked .

**Snowiisan : **Maybe because I didn't stop every few minutes , read what I wrote , & go "EW D:" ?(x

**Angel of Randomosity : **NONONONO you got it all wrong . It's Ikuto … sexy baka .

**Amuto20174 : **… I didn't say it sucked this time o_o But if you want me to think it sucked , then go right ahead .

**Xhappily-randomx : **I never have books stacked up for me ._. I only get one book at a time , & don't buy another until I'm done with the one I have . That way I never feel obligated to read any faster ^^

**Anonymous : **Aw , thanks !

**Iluvbleach10 : **It's my favorite too(:

**AhYingx3 : **I love you too ! :D

**Xxxdevil wings : **Mhmmm :D

**Xxxdevil wings : **so much sniffing … o:

**ANGST WARNING . I'm like … on an angst roll or something o_o Weird . I'm normally not that kind of person . I NEED TO FIND SOMETHING HAPPY & FLUFFY TO WRITE ABOUT SOON OR MY HEAD IS GOING TO EXPLODE D:

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**

"Happy birthday, Amu," Ikuto announced, pulling a plate with a cake on it from an unknown somewhere. He handed it to his smiling girlfriend. Amu giggled, using her finger to scrape off some of the frosting on top of the cake. She tasted it.

"Utau made this didn't she?" She asked suddenly. "She always put way to much sugar into her cakes …"

Ikuto smirked.

"Darn," He said, pretending to sound dejected. "And here I thought that you'd believe that _I _made it …"

Amu ran over and whacked Ikuto with a pillow.

"Like I'd ever believe that!" She cried out. Ikuto smirked as he turned around to put the cake down. He stood up and picked up Amu, throwing her petite body over his shoulder before putting her back down again. He crawled next to her, the smirk still wide on his face.

"You think you're so funny, huh?" He asked teasingly. Amu smiled up at him as she nodded. Ikuto couldn't help but turn his own smirk into a smile. She looked so adorable when she smiled like that … it was almost a movie-worthy smile.

Or, maybe, it was even _better_ that the smile of most celebrities …

Ikuto sat up, his eyes never leaving his girlfriend's face. Amu sat up with him, a bewildered expression beginning to blossom.

"What … ?" She asked, confused. Ikuto was silent for a moment.

_She really _is_ perfect in so many ways … It feels like she deserves so much better , like it'll take thousands of me's to show how much I love her …_

"Did you ever think about trying out for acting?" He asked suddenly. "Like, becoming one of those famous people?"

Amu blushed.

"N-no," She stammered. "Why would I?"

Ikuto shrugged.

"Dunno," He answered. "You just seem like one of those people that are perfect for it. You _are _a pretty good actor, considering you made me believe that you hated me when we first met … not to mention that you have half your school believing you're some sort of uncaring punk. Plus, you're obviously cute enough to pull off being in giant screens ..."

Amu's cheeks reddened as Ikuto continued on and on about how Amu would be perfect.

"Now that you mention it," She mumbled. "It actually sounds like a lot of fun … but just being in small things. No way am I going to try to get some award or something. Maybe I can try that when I grow up or something …"

"But for now," Amu continued, wrapping her short arms around him. I just want to spend some time with you before my parents get back."

Ikuto smiled; that worked perfectly fine for him.

**.: a few years later … ish . I don't know exactly :.**

Ikuto sighed, redialing the number one more time. He had tried countless times before this, he just didn't get any responses. He understood that with her new busy life, she probably wouldn't have time to answer every phone call from him, but he still wanted to _hear_ her at least, since it was impossible for them to see each other at the moment.

He couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of relief when he heard the dial tone stop and the noise of the phone being picked up.

"Yeah, what?" He heard her say into the phone, her voice sounding quite rushed. But more rushed than Ikuto had expected it would've been.

"Are you busy right now?" Ikuto asked anyways. He heard a sigh on the other end.

"Right now is a little … " she began

"Well this'll be quick," Ikuto promised. "I just wanted to remind you that I-"

"Sorry," She interrupted. "I'm going to have to call you back later …"

"Wait!" Ikuto started, but his words fell on deaf ears. The dial tone was back again.

He closed his eyes as he placed the phone back into its cradle. He should be thankful that Amu even picked up the phone; it was the first time she had in weeks. But, Ikuto couldn't help but notice that she had sounded a whole lot crankier than last time they had talked.

He knew that he was the one that talked her into all of this; trying out for a part in some small movie. But he had never expected that Amu would be such a huge success, launching her into the highest point of stardom. As proud as he was of her, Ikuto wished that Amu was still free most of the time, so they could spend some time together again.

But, obviously, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"Amu," He said quietly to himself. "All I wanted was for the world to make you happy. But … it built some sort of wall in between us …"

As selfish as it sounded, Ikuto knew that he wanted his little pink-haired, blushing, adorable little Amu back. And all to himself.

He suddenly stood up from the chair he was sitting in.

Ikuto was going to find her.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

The crowd was thick as the hundreds of people tried to squeeze themselves into the concert hall were the awards ceremony was being held. There was barely any room for anyone to even fit through the door anymore.

Of course, Ikuto was smarter than to try to get through _that_ mess.

He made his way around the back; they way the award recipients usually get in. Thankfully, he had been here hundreds of time due to Utau's fame as a singer, and he knew the best ways to get through all the security guards without getting caught.

Even if he knew the place inside and out, it still took Ikuto a while to get to where he wanted: a hidden space behind the stage where he could see the whole ceremony perfectly.

Ikuto got there just in time to see Amu gracefully walking onto the stage to receive her award.

"Thank you!" He heard the pink-haired teenager say. "Thank you guys for everything! I'd like to thank all of my friends, and my family, and all of my friends for all of their wonderful support the whole way!"

Ikuto continued to listen on for her whole acceptance speech, but he didn't really want to hear any more. Amu had mentioned everybody that had helped her along her journey to being who she was now … except for him. Wasn't it Ikuto that had suggested she try out for acting in the first place? And now that she's finally made it big, she doesn't even remember who had given her the first push.

Life just wasn't fair.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Amu glided off of the stage, wiping away the sweat forming on her forehead. But she didn't have much time to rest. She was due on another talk show within the hour, so she had to hurry.

All of a sudden, she heard her phone ringing from inside of her clutch. She felt a wave of irritation. Who would call her now? She was stressed out enough as it is.

"What do want? I'm busy; I have to go soon! So make it quick," She snapped into the phone, without even bothering to check who it was. She heard a slight hesitation on the other end, as if they were surprised at her sudden outburst.

"You're famous," The person on the other end said sadly. "I knew it all along. I knew that you would be this famous. You're pretty, you're talented. You're going to be so much better without me needing to talk to you all the time. So take care of yourself. Be happy, and remember that I'll always love you. Bye."

Amu's eyes widened at the voice. It was … Ikuto's. He sounded truly hurt on the phone, but who would blame him? She hadn't talked to him in ages, let alone seen him in person ever since her career had taken off. How could've she forgotten him until now?

"Wait, Ikuto!" She screamed into her tiny cell phone. But, it was too late. He had just hung up. Amu flipped her phone closed again, taking a moment to stand still.

"Ikuto," She whispered. "I'm sorry …"

* * *

***yawn* Psttt , I'm sneaking on right now(: Supposed to be in bed . Wrote it in about an hour , so my eyes are a bit tired now :\**

**Review ? BE SURE TO THANK MY POTATO SALAD FOR GIVING ME THE ORIGINAL INSPRIATION :D**


	7. Nudges

**I hate my life .__. We're just going to leave it at that . I'm honestly considering suicide . Being dead has to be better than living the way I'm forced to .**

**By the way , a **_**huge**_** thanks to all of those people who gave me their own definition of "nudge" . It helped me a lot(:**

**AhYingX3 : **I like angst too , but it has to be written in just the right way for me to enjoy it ; unlike my angst's .

**Nessz : **o_o""

**LittlePlaugeSprit : **D: Don't ate the potato salad . It was too delicious to be disliked .

**Himeka Tsukiyomi : **Thank you ~

**Angel of Randomosity : **o; doushite ?

**Yoru-chan-Amuto-freak : **No , I was making the potato salad & I was watching something on TV about those Hollywood celebs & their dramatic lives . The two sort of … fit together ? :3

**Sparkly-Vampire-Wannabe : **Well I wouldn't be surprised if she just takes Ikuto for granted in her life or something .__.

**Amuto20174 : **Oh really ?(:

**Snowiisan : **… Are you just going to say that my newest oneshot is your favorite ? .__. & No twoshot . *underlines one in ONEshot*

**HlorkexD : **It was super delicious(:

**Superduper short . Not really … just tons shorter than what I usually do .__.**

**But I like this short :D … It's too short for a one shot & too long for a drabble … SO I NAME THEE A SHORT . & NO ANGST WARNING THIS TIME !(:**

**

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**

"Hey, Amu," Ikuto said, elbowing the pink-haired female's arm. Amu looked up from the laptop she was doing her homework on and smiled at him.

"Yes?" She asked sweetly. Ikuto smiled.

"Look," He said, holding up one of Amu's stuffed animals, waving one of the arms. "It's waving to you."

Amu giggled.

"It's so cute!" She exclaimed, taking the animal away from him and hugging it herself. She turned back to her homework.

Ikuto sighed; he was always here each night, but tonight seemed particularly boring. Maybe because Amu had a lot more homework than usual and was taking forever to finish it all …

Still, he needed something to entertain himself with. He glanced around the room, hoping for something.

Nothing.

He sat there, watching Amu for a few minutes.

"Hey … Amu?" He suddenly asked, tapping her shoulder. Amu looked at him again, still smiling.

"Yes?"

"I'm thirsty," He said. "Can you go downstairs and get me some milk?"

Amu faked a sigh and rolled her eyes.

"Just be happy that my parents aren't home right now," She told him before putting her laptop down and crawling off the bed. Ikuto grinned.

A minute later, Amu came back into the bedroom, a glass of warm milk in her hands.

"Here you go!" She said as she handed Ikuto the glass. Ikuto smirked at her, taking a few huge gulps of the milk.

"Thank you, Amu-_koi_," He said slyly. Amu blushed as she picked up her laptop and beginning to do her homework again.

"Don't say things like that … " She mumbled quietly. Ikuto took a deep breath. Now to find something else entertaining to do …

As if right on cue, he heard a noise from outside. Ikuto turned around and saw that it was beginning to rain again. He shifted his whole body around, so that his back was leaning against Amu and he was facing the window. He rubbed his shoulder against hers.

"Hey, Amu."

" … Yes, Ikuto?"

"It's raining outside."

Ikuto heard a sigh.

"Yes, Ikuto," Amu said, a hint of annoyance in her tone. "Yes, it's raining outside. Now, I really have to do this homework."

Ikuto nodded.

"Got it."

Not really. Within ten minutes, he was already desperate for something else to happen again.

"Hey … Amu?" He asked, tugging her sleeve gently. Amu suddenly spun around and glared at him.

"Do you mind?" She demanded. "I'm actually trying to get this stuff done! And you hitting me and going '_Hey Amu!_' every few minutes or so isn't helping. At all!"

Ikuto leaned back, taken aback by Amu's sudden behavior.

"It's called _nudging_," He muttered defensively. "But, fine, I'll shut up now."

Amu glared at him for a moment longer.

"Thank you!" She exclaimed, turning back to her homework.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

For the next hour and a half, Ikuto, who somehow managed to keep himself completely silent, entertained himself on his own. Whether it was playing the edge of the blankets on Amu's bed, or twirling his thumbs, or staring at the rain outside her room some more, Ikuto promised himself that he would not bother Amu until she finished her homework.

After what seemed like years to Ikuto, but was only an hour or two in reality, Amu slid her laptop of her lap and stretched.

"I'm … DONE!" She sang. Ikuto didn't move or say anything; he just continued sitting on her bed with his back facing her. He stayed completely silent.

Amu felt a stab of guilt pierce through her heart.

"Neh … Ikuto?" She asked shyly, sliding over to sit next to him. No response from him.

"Ikuto," She began again. "I'm … sorry for screaming at you like that."

Still no response. Amu lifted up her arm to nudge him again, but decided against it. She sighed and turned back to doing something else.

A few minutes later, Amu felt something poking at the back of her neck. She turned slightly, and saw Ikuto using his nose to nudge her neck.

She couldn't help but smile the tiniest bit.

"W-What?" She asked, her cheeks pinkening. Ikuto pulled back and smirked.

"This," He said, and he kissed her.

The two of them continued with that, until they heard a door downstairs slam closed.

"We're hoooome!" An excited little voice was heard screaming. Amu quickly pulled away, her cheeks redder than ever.

"A-Ami … " She mumbled. "and my parents. So … uh … you should … go now …"

Ikuto nodded as he stood up and headed for the balcony door.

"Yeah," He said, smirking. "But, just remember this : every time I nudged you was like saying _I love you_."

Amu felt herself blushing even more.

"Really … ?" She asked in wonder. "So you really said it… WAIT, WHAT?!"

But it was too late. Ikuto was already gone. Amu was left by herself in her room.

Still, she couldn't help but smile as she thought about it some more.

_So he really _does_ love me …_

Still smiling, Amu crawled back onto her bed and opened up her laptop. After a few minutes of doing nothing useful, she got an IM.

**Ikuto Tsukiyomi : **You have just been sent a _nudge_ .

* * *

**Personally , I liked the beginning , but not the ending .__. Oh well .**

**Review ?**


	8. Valentines

**Put "muffin cupcake" in your review if you're spending Valentines Day single . Like me .**

**I … have nothing to say ._. Went shopping , SEEING DEARJOHN TOMORROW ! , did my science homework :x**

**Amuto20174 : **o___o Why fu**cking ? I thought that it was always just spelled "fucking" , with no two letters between the u & the c ._. OH WELL . Don't worry , my life is waaaay worse than yours .

**Himeka Tsukiyomi : **Ahaha ; thanks ! :D

**Black-scarlet-rose17 : **Thanks ~ I think I really enjoy writing either angst or cute stuff now .

**Snowiisan : **D: You don't suck . At least you have an idea of what your favorite fic is . My favorite is nonexistent ._. & I said no ; so what ? No need to get so snappy over it .

**AhYingx3 : **Ohmygosh ; I love you too(:

**Little Plague Spirit : **Awww , thank you ~

**Xhappily-randomx : **I didn't like the ending(:

**HlorkexD : **I don't like the ending because … well it turned out ickier than what I had planned D: That's all(:

**P.S. OOC Ikuto :D

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**

Valentines .

021410 .

Inspiration : chocamilkproductions of youtube ; _The Listening_ by Lights

* * *

Ikuto followed his group of friends as they walked through the park. He didn't join them in their conversation; he found whatever they were talking about at the moment pretty boring.

As they were talking, Ikuto took the time to look around at his surroundings. Kids were swinging on the swings and sliding on the slides; parents were either with their kids or relaxing under a tree …

And there was this pink-haired girl, who looked around … teenage age, that was sitting alone on a bench.

Ikuto elbowed one of his friends.

"Hey, Kukai," He said, motioning towards the girl. "Who's that?"

Kukai glanced at the girl once, smiling.

"Oh," He told him. "That's Hinamori Amu. She just moved here from America with her family … last week or something. Not sure. Saw her around school a couple of times, though."

Ikuto nodded, silently taking in the information he just heard.

"Tell them to go without me," He said next. "I'll see you guys around."

Kukai grinned at him.

"Sure …. " He said in a tone that obviously meant that he wouldn't. "But be warned, from what I've heard, she's _really _stubborn."

Ikuto rolled his eyes and walked away from his friends, towards Amu.

She was bent over a cell phone, her bubble-gum pink hair falling in front of her face as her fingers flew over the key pad rapidly as she texted. She didn't even look up when Ikuto took a seat on the bench on the opposite side of where she was sitting. Ikuto smirked.

_She can't be _that_ stubborn … Kukai tells me all these girls are, and yet they all fall for me sooner or later. She'll be just like the rest of them … except I'm hoping she isn't as stupid as some of them are._

After a few minutes, Amu flipped the phone closed and slid it back into the bag lying beside her. Ikuto turned towards her; now was his chance.

But, just as soon as he opened his mouth to say something, Amu pulled out a pair of earphones and an mp3 player. She suck the earphones into her ears, and pressed the "_play_" button on her mp3 player. Within moments, she was bobbing her head a long with the music. In fact, the song was so loud, Ikuto could hear it from where he was sitting.

And she still hadn't noticed Ikuto sitting there, watching her the whole time.

He couldn't help but frown; it had only been around 15 minutes, and Amu was already noticeably different from most of the girls he had tried to hit on. Maybe for once, Kukai was right ….

Ikuto shook his head. He could _never_ let that happen. Ever. No matter what.

Time to try a different method of getting her attention.

He reached out, intending to pull of one of her earphones. But, just as his finger grazed the plastic of the earphone, Amu suddenly stood up. She picked up her bag, her back facing Ikuto, as she walked away.

Ikuto frowned again, a frustrating annoyance growing inside of him. But, one thing was for sure: he was going to get this girl to fall for him. No questions asked.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto walked towards the same bench in the park bench, prepared to surprise Amu this time. In one hand, he was holding a balloon by its string that was shaped like a large pink heart. In the other hand, he was holding a box of sweets and the cutest stuffed bear he could find.

It was all cheesy and unnecessary in his opinion, but he knew from experience that this was the kind of stuff that worked for most girls. Even though he knew from their last encounter that Amu wasn't "most girls", he thought it was worth a shot.

He took a seat on the bench again, still holding the balloon but putting the bear and the sweets on the bench beside him. Amu was sitting in the same spot as before, the earphones still jammed into her ears as she flipped through a book.

Ikuto took a deep breath, and then held out the balloon to her. Amu was apparently too engrossed in her book, as she didn't notice him at all. Ikuto felt that annoying frustration from last time return again. He reached out to tap her on the shoulder.

Just as he extended a finger to tap her, the other fingers that were holding onto the balloon's string tightly suddenly loosened. The balloon slipped out of his fingers, and floated away into the blue sky.

On the bright side, though, Ikuto had gotten Amu's attention. The balloon now far behind her, she looked up from her book to smile at him.

"Hello!" She waved politely. When all she got was a dumbfounded stare from the blue-haired teenager, she gave him a funny look before returning to her book.

Ikuto felt like slapping himself. He finally got her to look at him, and all he could do was _stare_.

_Way to go, Ikuto. What is with you? You never do this. You're always so confident around girls, you always know how to impress them and make them love you. Why should she be any different?_

He sighed. No matter; he still had the sweets and the teddy bear. Ikuto turned around to pick them up, but as soon as he turned back around to give them to Amu, she was gone again.

Ikuto was really irritated. He had to try harder next time.

**~ i s n o w x 3 ~**

Ikuto sat down on the usual bench once again. Amu didn't glance up from the sketchbook she was drawing in when he sat. Ikuto smirked at her.

This time, he carried no balloons, no sweets, no overly-adorable stuffed animals. Nothing that the average girl would want.

Today, he had only a single box on his lap.

Silently, Ikuto slid the box over to Amu. Once again, she didn't hear him due to the earphones she seemed to never take off. Ikuto slid the box even closer to her, patting the top of it loudly before returning his hands to each side of his body.

Still no reaction from Amu.

Ikuto frowned; he wished the earphones could go to hell. But sadly, he wouldn't, so he would just have to figure out a way to get Amu to notice him with that obstacle.

Kukai had told him that in one of the classes he had with Amu, Amu was forced by the teacher to tell the class her hobbies. Photography was one of them, so Ikuto was sure that this present would do the trick.

He carefully opened the box, pulling out all the excess Styrofoam and bubble wrap that was used to hold the contents in place.

Then, he pulled out the one real thing the box held: the most expensive camera he could afford. And, considering his parents owned Easter, one of the biggest companies in Japan, he could afford something that was extremely expensive.

Ikuto held the camera out to Amu, careful to not drop such an expensive item. It would be a shame, spending so much money on a present to have it broken before the recipient even saw it.

Amu didn't even look up. She just continued staring downwards, her arm flying across her sketchpad, earphones still in her ears.

Ikuto couldn't believe it.

He stood up and walked a few feet in front of the bench. He got down on one knee, and took a picture of Amu.

Amu still didn't notice.

Trying not to let his irritation show, Ikuto walked back to the bench, and poked Amu's arm. Amu's head snapped up, looking quite surprised that somebody wanted her attention. She looked and saw Ikuto sitting beside her, a smirk on his face as he pointed to the camera screen.

Amu leaved over, and saw that there was a picture of her. She glared at him, taking one of the pens she was using to sketch with. Amu grabbed Ikuto's arm, and wrote "fail" on his wrist before collecting her things, standing up, and walking away again.'

Ikuto was left sitting alone, more confused than ever.

_What is with her?_

He frowned, a million thoughts running through his head. Tomorrow … tomorrow was Valentines day, the day where most people are in the mood to fall in love. He smiled as an idea crept into his brain.

Before leaving though, he used the camera to snap a picture of himself sitting on the bench.

**.: Valentines Day:.**

Ikuto walked towards the park bench once again. He hoped that his feeling of confidence wouldn't let him down today.

Like always, Amu was sitting on the bench, earphones plugged into her ears. She was engrossed in a book she was reading, and didn't notice when Ikuto sat down next to her again.

Ikuto took a deep breath, and shoved his present of the day on top of Amu's book. It was the teddy bear he had bought a couple days back; but this time it was holding a piece of cardboard. Glued onto the cardboard was the picture of Amu on the bench, and the one of Ikuto next to it. There was a question mark in between the two pictures.

Amu's eyes widened when she saw it, and her eyes slid to where Ikuto was sitting. She didn't say a word before turning back to the teddy bear.

Suddenly, Amu looked up again.

"Turn around," She instructed. Ikuto did as he was told. About a minute later, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Ikuto turned around and saw Amu, smiling as she held out the teddy bear in front of her.

Ikuto glanced at the piece of cardboard and grinned. He put the teddy bear back on the bench and stood up. Amu smiled slightly as she followed him, the two of them walking away.

The teddy bear and it's sign was forgotten.

Amu had used a marker to turn his question mark into a heart.

* * *

**Ending didn't turn out as great as I would've liked again :\\ ohwell .**

**Review ?(:**

**Happy Single Awareness Day to everybody!~**


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